Proposal for Garibaldi Annex School

Dear Community,

The working group has written an overview of the proposal they are developing to Save Garibaldi Annex!

Come out to our Community Information Session on Tuesday the 26th of February to get the full story: 7-9pm at Garibaldi School.

OVERVIEW OF GARIBALDI SCHOOL PROPOSAL – FEB 2008

The VSB has stated that it will close Garibaldi School in June, 2008 because of low enrolment unless an acceptable proposal to keep the school open is delivered to them by March 20^th, 2008. In order to address the concerns of the VSB regarding the low enrolment at Garibaldi Elementary School and the high cost-per-student of keeping the school operating, the Garibaldi Action Group – made up of the Garibaldi Parent Advisory Council, local residents, interested professionals, Frog Hollow Neighbourhood House, and other stakeholders – is developing a proposal for keeping the school open and financially viable.

Garibaldi School currently operates a regular elementary program for kindergarten through grade 4 and has a range of linguistic and culturally inclusive Family Support Programs operated by 5 community agencies. We propose that Garibaldi School operate a Distributed Learning Program in parallel with the regular school program, expanded Family Support Programs for families with preschool aged children, and a Reggio Emilia Inspired Group Daycare for 3-5 year old children. We further propose that these school components be drawn together by a common set of values based on the importance of “Arts and Culture” and a Mission Statement inspired by those values. Each program in the school will emphasize the importance of fine arts and cultural diversity, but this will not be a formally designated program in the way “Fine Arts” is a special District Program at Nootka School, for example. In this way, the diversity of our community will be reflected and respected in all of the activities at Garibaldi.

DISTRIBUTED LEARNING PROGRAM

Research has shown that there are more than enough children in the immediate area to meet the 165 student capacity of the school but many are currently enrolled in private schools, are home-learners, or are enrolled in other schools because of concern about the school closing. In order to keep the school financially viable, it is important to enroll students for whom the VSB will receive full funding from the Ministry of Education.

Van Horne Model (VSB)

The Vancouver Learning Network is a district-wide program which operates an “Elementary Distance Education” program at Van Horne School, located at 5855 Ontario Street. This program provides support for approximately 89 children who either choose to be home-schooled or cannot attend regular classes because they are out of the province or involved in extra-curricular advanced athletic or other performance activities. More than half of the children at Van Horne do not live in Vancouver and there are no classes offered for them at the school. They are encouraged, however, to participate in sports days, school performances and the Grade 7 Graduation Ceremonies. Van Horne also operates a regular school program with approximately 400 students.

New Westminster Homelearners’ Program

The Homelearners’ Program in New Westminster is also a Distributed Learning Program that receives full funding from the Ministry of Education for each enrolled student. They offer classes and academic tutorials to support subjects such as English, Math, Social Studies, Science, Second Language, P.E. & Fine Arts. They also offer the following:

• Development of an Individual Learning Plan to focus the child’s learning, guided by the Ministry of Education’s Prescribed Learning Outcomes
  
• Portfolio development and three formal reports for each child per year
  

• Foundation Skills Assessment (FSA) testing in May - Grade 4 and 7 students are required to write the government mandated FSA’s

They provide students with a Resource Library that gives families access to homelearning-friendly resources such as: thematic kits, books, audiovisual materials, manipulatives, CDs, educational board games, work books, text books, and unit plans. A “portfolio” is created for each child that reflects the Individual Learning Plan. Portfolios are comprised of a collection of student work samples that highlight learning done at home, in the community and at their school. Portfolios are handed in at the end of each term (November, March, June), followed by three-way conferencing. The conference includes assessments and time to develop learning plans and future goals. Reporting by teachers consists of anecdotal comments for K-3, with the addition of letter grades for grades 4 – 8. (This information is available on their website: http://142.33.122.45/nwhl/glance.htm). This program is focused on families who choose homelearning as a choice, rather than families who require online schooling because of travel or demanding special athletic or performance activities.

Garibaldi Distributed Learning Model
Our proposed model is based on the New Westminster Homelearners’ Program. Although the program would be open to any student in the Vancouver Lower Mainland, we would hope to attract a majority of students living in East Vancouver. We propose to design the program to meet the needs of families who prefer home-schooling with ongoing, consistent support from teachers and some classroom learning. We would propose two days per week of classroom time for each student with access to the regular school library and gym. Also, we would encourage participation in special events, sports, celebrations and other “extra-academic” activities with the students enrolled in the regular school program at Garibaldi.

We would have approximately 30 students as a goal for enrolment. Classroom space would be available in the current resource room and shared space with the Family Support Programs operated by Frog Hollow Neighbourhood House and Canuck Place. We expect that one FTE teacher would be required to meet the needs of these students.

EARLY CHILDHOOD DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMS

In June 2006, the VSB signed Memorandum of Understanding entitled, “Advancing an Integrated, Neighbourhood Based System of Early Childhood Development, Learning and Care Services in Vancouver” and broadened its mandate to include support for Early Childhood Development. Frog Hollow Neighbourhood House currently provides quality Early Learning Programs for children aged 0-6 and their parents/caregivers focused on supporting preschool children and their families to prepare for school at Garibaldi. We also offer Early Literacy Programs and resources for children and families and ESL classes for newcomer parents with school-aged and preschool children in collaboration with Pacific Immigrant Resource Society. Canuck Foundation through Partners in Education also currently offers family literacy support for parents with young children, and Vancouver Public Library partners with Frog Hollow to offer literacy programs such as Mother Goose. Evergreen Community Health is also involved in programs at the school by providing health education, health assessment for preschool children and medical referrals as required.

We are proposing to offer a Reggio Emilia Inspired, Group Daycare for twenty-five 3-5 year olds. This full-day child care centre will operate out of the current Kindergarten room and will be a “state-of-the-art” program for children in the community and will meet a great need for such care.

“ARTS, CULTURE AND COMMUNITY” SCHOOL THEME

The Garibaldi community is richly diverse and is characterized by families with different first languages, artistic and creative gifts, alternative lifestyles and many strengths. We propose that the different components of the school, which reflect the diversity of the community, be drawn together by the common thread of “Arts, Culture and Community”. We will develop a set of values and a Mission Statement for the school that recognizes the importance of using artistic expression as a universal language and means of communication. Similarly, the valuing of the richness of the cultural diversity of our community will be equally fundamental in the values and Mission of the Garibaldi. Garibaldi will be a centre of learning within the community, a recognized learning hub where community building activities are essential. This “Arts, Culture and Community” theme will be embraced by all programs, but will not be a special program in itself, as is the Fine Arts Program at Nootka School. Families will be attracted to this general emphasis on Art, Culture and Community without the need for a designated program that would be District-wide.

The Parent Advisory Council (PAC) will support this theme through funding programs such as “Learning Through the Arts” – a program that regularly works with schools to enhance art opportunities – and by creating a resource library with teaching aids for art and culture and other child-centred, project-based learning initiatives.

THE VISION

Our vision for Garibaldi is one of a vibrant, inspiring, diverse centre of community learning where families with different but complimentary interests and strengths come together with children from birth to school age to support one another, to create art and to celebrate their cultures. This exciting learning experience will attract many families who have been looking for a richer opportunity for their children and themselves and will make Garibaldi School a vital, sustainable and exciting centre of learning.